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Looks like our pals at Research In Motion are taking the company name literally this week — they’ve got a pair of patent applications target ads to automobiles and pedestrians on the street by dynamically changing their information density. By taking a page out of Google’s book and measuring the relative position of GPS-equipped phones (or using traditional sensors should that fail), RIM wants to create digital billboards that automatically add details the slower traffic gets. In one example, a “Road House Restaurant” could display only the name and exit number of the joint in giant letters when traffic moves quickly, but pitch that delectable pecan pie more thoroughly when it’s stop and go — but RIM’s thinking a bit further than that, suggesting that when vehicles are particularly slow, you could pull out your phone and get a coupon by photographing a projected QR code. The future, ladies and gentlemen.

RIM tries to patent billboards that adjust to roadside traffic originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen has filed suit against nine companies over patent violations. Through his current firm, Interval Licensing LLC, Allen is suing Apple, Google, AOL, Facebook, ebay, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo, and YouTube (which is a subsidiary of Google). The claims involve four separate patents, most of which cover integral parts of how the companies named do business. For example, one patent allows site suggestions for consumers based on things they’re currently viewing, while another allows related articles to be delivered while reading news. All in all, it sounds like Allen’s patents — if they’re indeed found to cover these technologies — are seriously vast. The suit, which was filed today, does not name any specific amount of damages he is seeking. Allen, who is one of the richest people in the world with an estimated worth of over $13 billion, recently pledged to donate over half of his wealth to philanthropic causes after Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called on the world’s billionaires to do so.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sues Apple, Google, Facebook, AOL, eBay, Netflix, Yahoo!, Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot, and YouTube over patents originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now we’ve seen some pretty wild keyboard patent applications in the past, from folding keyboards, angled keyboards, keyboards you can reconfigure by hand, and even keyboards with displays in every key (hello Optimus Maximus). But now RIM seems to have a new take on the smartphone keyboard concept. The company has filed a patent application for a keyboard which not only can be turned 90 degrees from portrait to landscape orientation (that you hold in a portrait manner, kind of like a reverse of this hideous thing), but one which flips as well. In the diagram the phone-maker provides, a numeric pad could be spun around to become a QWERTY input surface, and the whole rig repositioned to make for more comfortable typing. Now, it’s not clear how exactly RIM plans to mechanically turn this into a reality, but given the company’s recent interest in non-standard form factors, it’s not totally inconceivable that this could be turned from patent fantasy to smartphone reality. Of course, we’re not sure RIM should be worrying about its keyboards so much as it should be concerned with the software and internals of the devices themselves. You’re actually doing the keyboards right… maybe some work elsewhere is in order?

RIM files patent for flipping, rotating smartphone keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen some extremely DIY auto-lacing sneakers, but it looks like the big boys — Nike — have thought about getting in on the game as well. Patent filings which occurred in early through late 2009 show off an automatic lacing system that is pretty reminiscent of Marty McFly’s invention in Back to the Future, and we can tell you that from the looks of it, it’s a future we’d definitely like to inhabit. The shoes appear to boast a charging system and lights in addition to the lacing component, and while so few patent apps ever lead to a real retail product, we’re really rooting for this one. One more image below.

Continue reading Nike files patent for auto-lacing sneakers, Marty McFly doth protest

Nike files patent for auto-lacing sneakers, Marty McFly doth protest originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As far as we can tell, the general logic behind touchscreen iMac rumors goes something like this: “Apple is good at touch UIs, so it should build a touchscreen iMac.” Unfortunately, the reality of a usable, desirable touchscreen desktop computers has yet to materialize (sorry, HP and Microsoft), and so far Apple has steered clear of those dangerous waters. An international patent recently unearthed at the World Intellectual Property Organization, however, shows just how Apple might go about a touch UI on a desktop computer.

Basically, the patent covers the method of transitioning from a traditional “high resolution” UI (best operated by a mouse) to a “low resolution” UI suitable to finger operation (like iOS). A myriad of sensors can be employed to detect the user moving the screen into touch mode, and as the user does this the difficult high res bits like cursors and scrollbars and drop down menus “slide off the screen,” leaving only a touch UI at the end of the transition. It’s all very broad and vague, naturally, being a patent, but it’s an interesting idea, and makes more sense than ruining the good thing desktop UIs have going with a tacked-on touch UI in the style of Microsoft’s Windows. Of course, stuffing two UIs into one device also seems rather un-Apple like, so we’re not going to start expecting an Apple-built touchscreen iMac or MacBook to act exactly like this until Steve gets on stage and starts telling us how we magical and revolutionary it is.

Apple patent unearthed for touchscreen Macs that can flip between mouse and touch UIs with tilt of the screen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/21/apple-attempts-to-patent-kill-switch-that-roots-out-unauthorized/’; Just about every mobile operating system manufacturer can remotely delete apps from the smartphones they help provide, but if a recent patent application is any indication, Apple’s looking to lock down the whole enchilada on future devices. The basic concept is as simple as the diagram above — certain activities trigger the phone to think it’s in the wrong hands — but the particular activities and particular remedies Apple suggests extend to audiovisual spying (to detect if a user has a different face or voice than the owner), and complete remote shutdown. While the patent mostly sounds targeted at opt-in security software and would simply send you an alert or perform a remote wipe if your phone were stolen or hacked, jailbreaking and unlocking are also explicitly mentioned as the marks of an unauthorized user, and one line mentions that cellular carriers could shut down or cripple a device when such a user is detected. Sounds great for securing phones at retail, sure, but personally we’d rather devices don’t determine our authority by monitoring our heartbeat (seriously, that’s an option) and we’re plenty happy with the existing Find My iPhone app.

Apple attempts to patent kill switch that roots out unauthorized users, detects jailbreaks originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen 911 call centers that accept text messages, and now if PowerPhone gets its way you’ll some day be able to use MMS messages to further pinpoint the source of your distress. Patent number 7,764,769, “Integrated Call Handler and E-Mail Systems and Methods,” has just been approved by the Patent and Trademark Office, detailing the use of the company’s Incident Linked Multimedia (ILM) software to receive and prioritize multimedia messages at a call center near you. There is also something there about the software integrated with “existing Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management Systems,” which we imagine must be good news for someone looking to implement these features. But let’s be honest: we’re just looking forward to watching the inevitable “World’s Most Embarrassing Drunken Videos to 911″ special on Fox. PR after the break.

Continue reading PowerPhone patent approved for sending MMS messages to 911

PowerPhone patent approved for sending MMS messages to 911 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oracle’s decision to sue Google for infringing its patents and copyright on Java in Android has certainly stirred up a hornets’ nest of commentary and analysis on the web today, but it’s only just now that we’ve received Google’s official statement, in which the search giant calls the suit “baseless” and vows to “defend open-source standards.” Them’s fightin’ words — and considering the Dalvik virtual machine at the heart of the Android OS is the centerpiece of this dispute, we wouldn’t expect either side to back down quietly here. Get ready for years of litigation, friends. Here’s Google’s full statement:

We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform.

Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit ‘baseless,’ says Java goes ‘beyond any one corporation’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Oracle_sues_Google_over_Java_patent_infringement_in_Android’;
It’s no secret that Android and the Dalvik virtual machine it uses are heavily based on Java, and it looks like Oracle isn’t so happy about it: the database giant (which acquired Java when it bought Sun) just announced that it’s suing Google for copyright and patent infringement. The suit alleges Android violates some seven patents and contains copies of Sun’s original Java code — a damning accusation given that Google CEO Eric Schmidt once led the Java team before leaving Sun and eventually arriving in Mountain View. Oracle says Google’s known about these issues for around five years now, so it’s clear that whatever licensing negotiations these two were having have broken down — we’ve got a feeling this case will drag on for years to come, but we’ll definitely keep an eye on it.

[Image courtesy of Chris Onstad and Achewood]

Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hold on to your Foleos, folks, because it looks like Palm still hasn’t given up on the idea of a little laptop that pairs with a phone for wireless communications. However, where that former (failed) experiment called for entirely disparate hardware, here the relationship between the two would be rather more formal. In a patent filed in April and just dug up by Unwired View, Palm describes a “compact removable voice handset” and an “integrated palmtop computer.” The two can communicate wirelessly, but more interestingly they can be coupled such that “there is minimal increase to the overall size and weight” of the palmtop — in other words, the “phone” bit isn’t particularly large, making it more comfortable to hold up to your face in a conversation than your Streaks and the like. Is there actually any hardware behind this application or is this just Palm daydreaming about a Foleo 2? We’ll all just have to wait and find out.

Palm creating palmtop computer with detachable, dockable cellphone? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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